The Stacked Deck, and the Trump Card
by Zetsumi Ravencroft
Summary: Three years after the Courier secures an independent New Vegas, a new chain of events are set in place by another wanderer of the wastes that could alter the course of the Wasteland's future for decades to come.


_"War... war never changes..."_

_ Three years ago, the Courier overthrew Mr. House, and pushed both the NCR and Caesar's Legion out of the Mojave Wasteland, securing an independent future for the city of New Vegas, both of the retreating armies broken for the time by the losses of General Oliver, and Legate Lanius respectively. In that time, Chaos has reigned supreme across the Wasteland, and the Courier has vanished from the Mojave, with many a rumor flying around about the legendary wanderer's whereabouts. However, a new wanderer is about to rise to the challenges put forth by this ferocious desert wasteland..._

_This is his story..._

The desert winds whipped across the sandy deserts of the Mojave Wasteland, the howling winds sounding like the Air Raid sirens on the day of the Great War over two hundred years ago, before atomic fire scorched the Earth. In the distance, some mutated creature of the Mojave let out a call, which was promptly answered by a .50 caliber round tearing through the creature's skull, and ending its existence swiftly. The smoking barrel of a .50 caliber Anti-Material Rifle poked over the edge of a small ridge, and the heavily armored figure behind it sighed heavily.

"So help me god... if I just shot another god damn Mole Rat..." The armored figure said, his voice distinctly male, yet sounding like it was spoken over a speaker, the small light attached to its black helmet shining dimly, as his armored glove covered hand cocked back the bolt on the large rifle, sliding a new round into the chamber with a satisfying '_Ta-Tink_' sound. "Surprised I hit the thing in this dust storm… can barely see five feet in front of me, and whatever that was must have been at least ten or more yards away." The figure muttered, as he flicked on the Anti-Material Rifle's safety.

At first glance, the figure seemed to be a Veteran New California Republic Ranger, but as the Dust Storm settled slightly, obvious differences became highly noticeable. The first thing was that the color of the duster jacket worn over the armor was much darker, almost completely black, than the standard tan of NCR Veteran Ranger Duster jackets, and a bandoleer of ammo pouches was sewn across the front of it, starting at the right shoulder, and going all the way to the left hip, before a thick leather strap took over, forming the back half of the Bandoleer. On the upper right arm was a special shield shaped tan patch with an emblem of a grinning dark grey skull wearing a black top hat that was tilted to cover the left eye, an 8-ball stuck into the skull's right eye socket, and with an Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and 10 of Spades stuck into the white band around just above the brim. Three Frag Grenades rested in a special three-slot grenade holster upon the left breast, while five more ammo pouches were sewn across the back of the waist, and a worn pouch with a faded red cross on it, a converted pre-war military medic bag, was sewn onto the right hip.

A large metal ammo case, full of 5mm rounds, with a rolled up bedroll and a duffel bag tied to the top of it, was strapped to the armored figure's back like a backpack, and a Minigun with a new high speed motor, and Subframe Recoil Dampeners was attached to the right side of the ammo case, a full ammo belt leading from the side of the weapon into the gun. A Grenade Launcher rested on the opposite of the Minigun, clamped to the left side of the ammo case, and a set of open clamps next to the Grenade Launcher showed where the Anti-Material Rifle normally rested. The same emblem on the upper right arm of the duster jacket was also painted upon the ammo case, though the paint was faded slightly from exposure to the elements.

Underneath the opened duster jacket was a completely black painted suit of reinforced Mark II Combat Armor, the same emblem from the patch painted onto the right breast plate, dull scratches and nicks in the paint showing long usage and wear. A lever-action shotgun was hanging from a strap on the left hip of the armor right next to a slightly dented military canteen, and a modified 9mm Pistol, a scope and extended clip affixed to it, fit snugly into a holster on the right hip. A pair of binoculars, scratched and worn from usage over the years, hung around the armored figure's neck from a leather strap, and, noticeable by only the keenest of eyes, a silenced .22 pistol sat snugly in a special holster designed to blend in with the armor, while the handle of a combat knife was the only thing visible in a special made sheath in the right boot. Strapped to the figure's upper left leg was a hatchet, with five throwing knives inside a special holster just next to the handle. The flashlight on top of the figure's helmet flickered slightly, before the dying energy cell inside of it was replaced with a fresh one from one of the duster jacket's pockets, and the light returned to its full strength, showing that the helmet was a black painted, reinforced Mark II model Combat Helmet, sealed tight by the addition of a Boomer made Rebreather mask that not only protected the lower half of the figure's face from harm, but also recycled the air the figure was breathing, constantly providing a fresh supply, free of the dust storm's airborne dirt and grit.

"That Vault should be around here somewhere... that prospector at the Atomic Wrangler said he found the entrance to it just due west of Red Rock Canyon..." The armored figure muttered, as he pulled back the left sleeve of the Duster jacket, revealing an old Pip-boy 3000 that had been fully integrated into the armor on the left wrist, bringing up its map display function, and finding the GPS marker that represented the Vault entrance, and the one that represented him. "I'm surprised those old GPS satellites are still working... and in orbit, after two hundred wars since they were put up there." The armored, and heavily armed, figure mused, known to most people as 'The Mercenary'.

Once the mercenary was sure that nothing was waiting to ambush him in the dust storm, he placed his Anti-Material rifle next to the Grenade Launcher, securing the clamps around it so that it would stay firmly in one place, the Mercenary having spent many a day custom fitting and welding the clamps onto his Minigun's ammo pack so that he could comfortably carry the Grenade Launcher and the Anti-Material Rifle, while still having room on the ammo case for the Minigun. He swiftly scooped up the spent .50 caliber shell casing on the ground from where it had fallen, and slipped it into a pocket on the inside of the left side of his Duster jacket, where multiple other spent casings and hulls rested. The Mercenary quickly stood up, despite all the heavy weight he was carrying... something he was quite used to by now... and walked swiftly towards the GPS marker that displayed the Vault entrance, knowing that he needed to conserve his energy in case he had to run. An hour of nothing but straight walking was soon followed by the Dust Storm ceasing, and the Mercenary found himself staring at a steep climb, night slowly falling over the Wasteland.

"... shit." Was the only word that left the mercenary's mouth, before he started the climb upwards, the visor of his custom reinforced Mark II Combat Helmet not adversely affecting his vision, as he kept his eyes open for easier slopes and natural steps that would allow him to bypass the un-climbable rock faces that dotted the slope. "Whose bright idea was it to put a Vault inside a fucking mountain, and then put the damn entrance up high!" He cried out as he continued to climb, spotting a small cave about fifty feet above him, knowing that would be the entrance to the Vault, since they always stuck the entrances in way out of the way places.

The mercenary quickly clambered up the rest of the way, and pulled himself up into the mouth of the cave, lying down as best as he could on the dirt covered rock floor, panting heavily from the exhaustion the climb caused him. It had taken him about twenty minutes to get up to the cave, and now darkness was firmly settled across the Mojave, especially since tonight was a new moon. He knew trying to climb down now would be suicide, and turning on his Pip-boy light and then climbing down would make him an obvious target to some raider or Super Mutant with a decent shot... or a sniper rifle. He also didn't want to stay by the mouth of the cave in case a Cazador or two flew up there to try and make a meal out of him. The only option was to move deeper into the cave to get some safety, and he let out a reluctant sigh as he moved deeper into the cave, the small flashlight attached to his helmet lighting his way.

"Ah, the Vault-tec classic... a ratty looking wooden door hidden behind some large rocks..." The Mercenary muttered, when he stumbled across the door that would lead to the main Vault door, and he tugged on the handle, seeing that it was actually locked. "Looks like the prospector was right... well, never met a lock I can't pick..." The mercenary muttered, as he knelt down by the lock, and retrieved a screwdriver and a bobby pin from another pocket on the inside of his Duster jacket, slipping both into the lock.

He slowly prodded the Bobby pin around the lock, glad for the utter quiet inside the cave as he slowly aligned the tumblers inside the lock into the correct position, listening for the faint click each one made as the right spot was found. Once he had the Bobby Pin in the 'sweet spot', he turned the lock with the screwdriver, and a hidden smile crossed his face as the lock clicked open, and the door swung open. The mercenary quickly stepped in through the now open door, and closed it softly behind him, as he gazed at the old, cog shaped Vault Door, the numbers 119 painted in the middle of the large steel door in faded yellow paint. A quick glance to the side revealed the outer control panel for the door, and he quickly pulled down the switch, warning klaxons, and hissing steam echoing throughout the entrance shaft, as the door was pulled away from the inside, and rolled to the side, stale air recycled for two centuries rushing from the now open Vault door. It wasn't a big surprise that the inside of the Vault was spotless, free of the dirt, grime, and rust that always over took opened Vaults when they were abandoned, or the populace inside died.

"Hmm... no welcoming committee, that's either really good... or really bad." The Mercenary muttered, as he stepped into the Vault, and looked around; noticing a lot of the lights were off inside, but everything was in perfect condition. "The air isn't contaminated, and looks like nobody is home... might as well set up camp for the night." He muttered, as he got an air reading from his Pip-boy for any contaminants or radiation in the air, before yawning and stretching.

He quickly shrugged the heavy metal ammo pack off of his shoulders, and set it down upon the floor on the opposite side of the massive open Vault door, quickly unrolling the bedroll tied to the top of it. He placed it next to the ammo pack, before pulling off his helmet. Unkempt, neck length raven black hair cascaded down around the Mercenary's head as the Helmet was removed, and sharp, ice blue eyes peered out from under the hair that had fallen in front of the merc's pale face, as he quickly pushed it out of his eyes. On each cheek, a cross shaped scar stood out, an angry red against the pale skin of each cheek. The mercenary was actually only a seventeen year old Caucasian male by the name of Zetsumi Arthur Ravencroft, who had arrived in the Mojave Wasteland just as the Courier had vanished from the public eye.

"Phew, feels good to take that thing off..." Zetsumi muttered, as he wiped some sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand, before removing his customized armor, revealing a sweat stained white T-shirt tucked into a pair of desert camouflage pants, taken from an abandoned NCR outpost that had been attacked by the Legion during the battle for Hoover Dam, the clothing a little baggy on Zetsumi's light athletic build. "Looks like this place will have a lot to salvage here... I should be able to make at least a couple thousand caps off the stuff in here... hell, maybe I can turn this place into a base..." Zetsumi mused, as he retrieved his canteen off his armor's left hip, and chugged down the contents, knowing he could refill it from a sink inside the Vault.

After setting an alarm for six o'clock on his Pip-boy, Zetsumi lay down on top of his sleeping bag, and dozed off shortly after, one hand always instinctively close to the modified 9mm pistol, the raven haired teenager sleeping lightly just in case someone or something tried to sneak up on him. Luckily, the night passed without incident, and Zetsumi groaned when the voice of Mr. New Vegas drifted from his Pip-boy at six in the morning, as he groggily sat up, and shut off the Pip-boy's radio function, before getting dressed, and gathering all of his equipment and putting it back on. As expected, the door to first section of the Vault, the living quarters, was completely unlocked, and opened easily as Zetsumi tugged on the handle, more freshly recycled air rushing out to greet him, but since he never took off his helmet except when to sleep, eat, or drink... it was unimportant to him, as he was already breathing in constantly recycled oxygen. All of the lighting was down in the living quarters to, just like the entrance, and Zetsumi activated his helmet mounted flashlight, and his Pip-boy's internal light, and began to comb the living quarters for valuable salvage, items of use... or even signs that humans had actually lived in this Vault.

The first thing that Zetsumi noticed was that each door to the separate rooms for each family in a Vault were already all open, yet in each one he checked, there was no sign of anyone having been there recently. Each room also had a lot of scientific equipment in it, along with a computer terminal, though Zetsumi had no luck getting access to the data on any of the terminals he found, since it seemed to have all been corrupted by a computer virus. That of course, told Zetsumi that someone had to have corrupted the data from inside the Vault, since he had found out from some old documents about how the Vault computer systems all ran on a completely separate, government information network to keep their systems secure, so it was obvious no hacker had gotten to them from the outside, which just left an inside job. Once he was done checking out every room on the current floor, which took him a good hour and a half, he gathered up several fission batteries and about ten sensor modules he found sitting in a locker in one of the rooms, as well as an old, but still perfectly fine, 10mm Pistol that had a Laser Sight and Extended Clip attached to it.

"Hmm... weird, this isn't one of the security guard's rooms, but there's a pistol sitting in the locker..." Zetsumi quietly mused to himself, as he slipped the gun onto his waist, next to his modified 9mm pistol. "Probably some Scientist with a case of the Red Scare..." He sighed, before continuing on with his search of the Vault, stopping to refill his canteen from a sink in the living area bathroom.

Once his canteen was topped off, his next stop was the medical clinic, where he finally found the first locked door of the day, and easily picked the simple lock, before raiding the Clinic of its supply of Stimpaks, Rad-away, and Rad-X medicines, as well as finding a good five syringes full of Med-X pain reducer. However, he couldn't resist checking the clinic terminal as well, as not surprisingly, the data on this one was corrupted as well, but his eyes widened behind his helmets visor when he saw the corruption wasn't as bad as on the other computers.

"Robtech experiment number six-nine-nine?" He whispered, as he read a long entry with uncorrupted title data, and he tried to pull it up, before scowling beneath his Rebreather. "Damn it, the entire entry is encrypted and corrupted... damn my lack of computer know-how..." Zetsumi muttered through clenched teeth, as he slammed his hand on the desk holding the terminal up. "Just what is a Robtech experiment doing in a Vault-tec Vault?" He asked himself in a whisper, still frustrated with the virus that had corrupted all of the data.

If there was one thing that frustrated Zetsumi to no end, it was having to deal with computers that he didn't have the passwords to, since he could only hack the most basic of encryption schemes, and even then he had trouble sometimes. He did one more sweep of the room, pocketed some scalpels, a couple medical braces, some surgical tubing, and some forceps, and then followed the wall directory signs to the Overseer's office. When he finally found the door to the office, it was open as well, and he instinctively cringed when he saw the skeletal remains of the Vault Overseer in a tattered Vault 119 Jumpsuit slumped over his or her desk. It didn't take a medical genius to figure out the cause of death, thanks to the bullet hole in the back of the Overseer's skull.

"So, that's the Overseer accounted for... but where did everyone else go?" Zetsumi whispered, as he gently moved the skeletal remains aside, and quickly settled down to check out the Overseer's terminal, finding that none of the data had been hit by the virus, but all of the files were locked down with heavy encryption. "Damn it... hmm, looks like all the electronic locks aren't password protected..." He muttered, as he read the list of locked down areas. "Armory, elevator, observation floor, reactor room... holding chamber?" He said, cocking an eyebrow as he read the name of the last locked room on the list. "Better disengage the lock for the reactor room first... I'll be able to see why all the lights are off, and if it's running on emergency power." He muttered, before unlocking the door to the elevator, and the door to the reactor room.

Once the Elevator was unlocked, Zetsumi heard a noise come from the other end of the Overseer's office, and was even more surprised to see part of the wall slide away to reveal an elevator door behind it. Deciding not to question it, he only sighed, and walked to the elevator, stepping inside when the door opened. His finger quickly hit the button for the reactor room floor, and he felt his stomach jump upwards slightly as the elevator journeyed downwards deeper into the Vault. After a few minutes, the elevator stopped moving, and the door opened. Seeing as how the Pip-boy 3000's Geiger counter wasn't going off, Zetsumi knew the reactor wasn't breached, or he would be in the process of being flooded with radiation at the moment. His footsteps echoed in the silence of the reactor room, as he strolled over to the maintenance terminal, the screen casting a soft green glow over an area of a few feet. Zetsumi was glad to see the terminal wasn't locked down, and the clacking of keys was the only thing heard in the room, as he searched for the power output option, and set it from 'emergency output' to full operational output.

"There we go..." Zetsumi muttered, as slowly but surely, the reactor hummed to life, and the lights came on, prompting him to turn of the Pip-boy light, and the flashlight attached to his helmet.

"Warning, containment breech on observation deck, Deathclaw Mark II cryo-containment chamber opening... all personnel are to report to security lockdown stations." A feminine voice suddenly came out over the P.A. system speakers in the room, as warning sirens began to go off. "Warning, security lockdown stations have been compromised, security personnel are to retrieve experiment six-nine-nine from observation level cryo-preservation chamber." The voice said not even a second after, before it continued to repeat the same warnings over and over again.

"Deathclaw mark what!" Zetsumi cried out in shock, knowing just how dangerous the creatures known as Deathclaws were, and he quickly made a mad dash for the elevator, jumping inside and rapidly mashing the button for the Overseer's office. "Like hell I'm staying here if there's a Deathclaw running around in here... bad enough when they are encountered in the open they can kill a squad of heavily armed hunters, I am not getting stuck in close quarters with one of them." He muttered beneath his breath, feeling the elevator move upwards.

However, it seemed Lady Luck was not on Zetsumi's side today, as the elevator suddenly stopped moving when it reached the observation floor level, and no amount of mashing the button would get it to work. He only let out a growl of frustration, and hit the open door button, being greeted with the sight of dim, red emergency lighting, shadows being cast everywhere by the revolving red lights mounted on the walls. He quietly took a couple of tentative steps onto the observation balcony in front of the elevator, and cautiously peered down over the edge of it.

"Well, I found the rest of the Vault residents..." Zetsumi whispered in disbelief, as a horrid sight met his eyes.

Piled in the center of the floor beneath the balcony was a pile of fifty or so rotting bodies wearing torn jumpsuits and lab coats, and the parts of many more were strewn about. However, it was not the sight of that much death in one spot that sickened Zetsumi; it was the massive ten foot tall, bipedal reptilian creature that sat with its back to the mercenary, feasting upon the dead like it was the first food it had gotten in years. Two foot long, razor sharp spikes lined the creatures back in a six by five pattern, and four wickedly curved horns that were currently splattered in blood jutted from the creature's forehead. Along with the razor sharp claws that adorned each of the Deathclaw's long fingers, a single foot and a half long blade stuck straight out from each elbow, gleaming slightly in the dim emergency lights. Zetsumi could only catch glimpses of the Deathclaw Mark II's eyes as it feasted upon the corpses, but that look of pure animal ferocity and instinct was something he was sure was going to haunt him, even with how hardened he had become to such horrors thanks to the unforgiving Mojave Wasteland.

_"Jesus H. Christ... what I wouldn't give for a Fat Man mini nuke launcher right about now..."_ Zetsumi thought to himself, as he quietly ducked down behind part of the balcony to avoid being seen. _"I can't let that thing get out into the wasteland though, otherwise the Deathclaw problem will be even worse with this thing running around... ergh, damned if I do, damned if I don't... Lady Luck you fickle bitch."_ He thought to himself, as he peeked over the edge of the balcony, noticing that the Deathclaw Mark II was too busy eating the dead, and hadn't seen him. _"Hmm... looks like that door is the only way out of here... maybe this experiment Six-Nine-Nine is a weapon I can use to kill that damned Deathclaw, or at the very least there should be something in there that I can use to kill it."_ He thought to himself, as he peeked back over the balcony railing, and studied the room beneath it, glad that he didn't have to jump off it due to some nearby stairs, as he didn't want to make any excess noise, and alert the Deathclaw Mark II to his presence.

Slowly, he made his way over to the stairs, crouched down to hide behind the balcony safety railing, which was really just a thick waist high wall of steel, making sure not to step down too hard on the metal floor in order to minimize how much noise he made. So far, the Deathclaw Mark II was too busy devouring corpses to notice Zetsumi, and he slowly pressed himself up against the wall, inching along it, the Deathclaw's back to him. His breath was held as he moved slowly along the wall, knowing that if he moved too fast, then the ammo belt for his Minigun or some other loose object would make a noise by hitting his armor, and he'd be dead before he could blink. However, just as he made it to the door, it suddenly came upon with a loud hydraulic '_whoosh_' sound, and Zetsumi quickly bolted through the door as the Deathclaw Mark II saw him, and let out a terrifying roar.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Zetsumi cried out as he sprinted down the hallway, the Deathclaw Mark II, temporarily delayed as the door shut again. _"This is just great, just freaking great... the damn thing knows I'm here now."_ Zetsumi thought to himself, as he sprinted down the emergency light lit hallway, drawing his modified 9mm pistol as he went.

He only managed to get halfway down the hallway though, before the horrific sound of stressed metal was heard, followed by a bone chilling screeching sound as the door was brutally ripped away. As soon as the door was gone though, Zetsumi whipped around on the balls of his heels, and aimed down the scope of his 9mm pistol, and fired several rounds right at the Deathclaw's face. The first two rounds bounced off the Deathclaw Mark II's thick scales like it was bullet proof glass, but the third round struck the Deathclaw Mark II right in the right eye, causing it to cry out in pain and stumble slightly in the more confined hallway. Zetsumi took advantage of the temporary delay of the Deathclaw's movement, and turned back around, sprinting down the hallway. However, the delay wasn't as long as he liked, as he heard the sound of the Deathclaw Mark II's wickedly sharp claws digging through the steel of the walls as it dragged its large body through the hallway behind Zetsumi.

The next door soon came up, and automatically opened for Zetsumi, allowing the mercenary to dash through it without a problem, and he noticed the way it slammed shut right after he got through. He figured it was probably some kind of sensor on the doors that only opened for human beings, and since the Deathclaw Mark II wasn't human at all, the doors would stay shut. However, that knowledge only guaranteed Zetsumi a small amount of time to increase the distance between himself and the Deathclaw Mark II, or to create a trap for it. His eyes quickly scanned the new room he was in as he holstered his pistol after slipping three fresh rounds into the twenty round clip, and he noticed it seemed to be a robotics repair room, with several Sentry-bots equipped with Gatling Lasers and Missile Launchers were in different states of being repaired, but one with a set of dual Miniguns along with the standard weapons seemed almost completely ready to go, Zetsumi noticing it had tank style treads instead of wheels.

"Bingo..." Zetsumi whispered, as he dashed over to the completely finished Sentry bot, and checked it out. "Hmm, everything seems to be in order, just need to connect this wire and... here we go." He muttered, as he connected a couple wires together, and used a roll of electrical tape on the table next to the Sentry-bot to tape it together.

Sure enough, the Sentry-bot started up, and quickly issued a security warning about all unarmed personnel should seek refuge. However, it seemed its I.D. scanner was broken, as it didn't issue an intruder alert when it looked at Zetsumi.

"What's the situation chief?" The Sentry-bot asked, sounding like a grizzled old war veteran.

"The Deathclaw Mark II has broken free, and it's trying to break down the door to this room... cover me while I go retrieve experiment six-nine-nine." Zetsumi said quickly, knowing that this custom model Sentry-bot would be able to buy him a decent amount of time, or maybe even kill the Deathclaw Mark II.

"Sir, Yes Sir!" The Sentry-Bot responded, as it saluted Zetsumi with its Gatling Laser arm, before moving into position in front of the door that was slowly being torn apart by the Deathclaw Mark II.

Zetsumi only let out a sigh of relief, and he bolted down through the next door, noticing that no other doors were present in any of the rooms, which he found very odd. However, the sounds of the Deathclaw Mark II's roars, and the chainsaw like sound of a pair of Miniguns tore his mind from the lack of other doors, and he booked it down the hallway. The next room seemed to be a machine shop, and a quick glance at the west wall revealed a very large saw blade on a robotic arm... something that could prove to be very useful. However, deciding not to waste time with it, he tried to go on through the last door, which had a sign conveniently above that read 'Experiment Six-Nine-Nine Storage chamber', it wouldn't open for him.

"Warning, security locks engaged until Deathclaw Mark II threat is removed from area." The computerized PA voice said again, prompting Zetsumi to release a string of foul curses.

"You've got to be kidding me..." Zetsumi muttered, as he banged his fist against the door in frustration, before hearing the Deathclaw Mark II's muffled roar coming from the other side of the door he had entered through. "Son of a..." He muttered angrily, before sprinting over to the control panel for the saw equipped robotic arm, breathing heavily from the exhaustion. "Come on, come on... great, only the saw turns on!" He cried out, slamming his fist against the control panel as only the saw blade began to spin with a slightly heartening whirring noise, but the arm didn't move.

It was at that point that the sound of wrenching metal echoed out across the room, and Zetsumi quickly unclamped his Anti-Material Rifle from its docking clamps on his ammo pack, and turned off the safety. He pulled the bolt back to draw a fresh round into the chamber, and kicked over a work bench to form a makeshift barrier, crouching down, and placing the bipod on top of the barrier, placing the crosshairs of his sight on the door, which was warping and bending beneath the Deathclaw Mark II's attacks. He managed to slow down his breathing, and waited for the moment for the Deathclaw Mark II to break down the door so he could load a .50 caliber round right into the mutated creature's brain. A horrifying metallic screech filled the room as the door was ripped open, and the Deathclaw Mark II pulled its wounded body through, bullets holes and scorch marks scattered across its body.

"Eat this you ugly son of a bitch!" Zetsumi cried out, as he pulled the trigger, the recoil force from the large rifle almost knocking him over.

However, the recoil had thrown Zetsumi's aim off, and the round tore deep into the left shoulder of the Deathclaw Mark II, leaving a bloody gaping hole in it. As the reptilian monster recoiled in pain, Zetsumi got to his feet, and pulled back the bolt, sliding a fresh round in the chamber. Just as he was about to fire again though, he stopped dead as he got a better look at the Deathclaw Mark II's wounds. He couldn't believe his eyes, as he saw that all of the wounds were actually regenerating slowly but surely, most of the smaller ones already healed. However, what was worse was the fact that beneath the layer of scales was hardened skin that was almost the color of iron. Zetsumi had heard of Doctor Usanagi of the New Vegas Medical Clinic had a machine that could install an implant in a human being that hardened the skin layers beneath the top layer, and another implant that boosted the body's healing abilities, but he had never imagined they were real.

"J-just what the hell is thing?" Zetsumi cried out in shock, as he fired off another round, this one just grazing the Deathclaw Mark II's left arm, the recoil force almost knocking him over again.

As Zetsumi scrambled to regain his balance, the Deathclaw Mark II pounced at him, its claws shredding the steel work bench that Zetsumi had been using. The young mercenary quickly leapt back, and instead of trying to fire another shot with his rifle, which was leaving him exposed every time he didn't fire a kill shot, he tossed it to the side, and drew the level action shotgun off his left hip, and quickly pulled the trigger, cocking the lever forward to load another shell into the chamber. He quickly fired off another shot, and cocked the level forward a third time, the Deathclaw Mark II's face pockmarked from where the shot inside the shells broke through the scales, but was stopped by the armor like skin beneath.

However, this only inconvenienced the Deathclaw Mark II, and it lashed out as Zetsumi with its trademark claws, but the young mercenary rolled beneath the deadly appendages, knowing that it could only attack using its right arm with the way its left arm was messed up by the gaping hole in its shoulder. Zetsumi quickly fired three more shells into the Deathclaw's gut, before leaping out of the way of the claws again. He managed to kick over another work bench just before the Deathclaw tried to pounce on him again, and it ended up getting its right claw stuck in the thick steel of the work bench, giving time for Zetsumi to feed five new 20 gauge shells into his Shotgun. Time was working against him, as the Deathclaw Mark II was slowly healing its many wounds, and trying to use his Minigun would slow Zetsumi down considerably due to the way it had to be held at his waist, leaving him an open target for the flesh ripping claws. His mind quickly went back to the spinning industrial saw, and a plan formulated in his head.

Zetsumi quickly moved himself in-between the Deathclaw Mark II, and the saw, putting his Lever-action shotgun back on his left hip. The Deathclaw Mark II soon wrenched its right claws free from the second work bench, and turned to face Zetsumi, letting out a bellowing roar. Zetsumi only moved himself so that his legs were a bit farther apart, and he was crouched down a bit. As soon as the Deathclaw Mark II leapt at him, Zetsumi dived beneath it, landing just behind it, as he suddenly spun around on his right foot, sweeping out his left leg, timing it just right to knock the Deathclaw Mark II off balance. With a roar of surprise, the Deathclaw Mark II fell onto its side, its right arm flailing out to in front of it, and landing squarely on the saw, which made short work of the arm, reducing it to a bloodied stump.

"How'd you like that?" Zetsumi asked the Deathclaw Mark II, panting heavily as he stood up, and retrieved his Anti-Material Rifle, along with the shell casings and 20 gauge hulls on the floor. "Now, goodnight big ugly..." Zetsumi muttered, as he walked back over to the Deathclaw Mark II, and placed the barrel of his Anti-Material Rifle against the creature's head, and pulled the trigger once, a disgusting splatter barely being heard above the roar of the shot. "Now that that's over with..." He muttered to himself, as he picked up the spent shell casing, and slapped a new clip into his rifle, before looking at the last door.

Zetsumi holstered his Anti-Material Rifle, and stepped up to the door, which promptly slid open. With a heavy sigh, he stepped inside, not knowing that his future would be changed from this day forward...


End file.
